Conventional soap dispensing apparatus such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,525 includes a rear lid, a soap bottle to hold liquid soap with a lower end connecting to a soap discharge portion and a front cover to cover the rear lid and encase the soap bottle. The rear lid has a first clamp portion to clamp an opening side of the bottle and a second clamp portion to clamp the soap discharge portion. When refilling the liquid soap in the soap bottle is required, the first and second clamp portions are removed. Such a structure makes removing the soap bottle easier. However, to refill the liquid soap the front cover has to be detached to remove the soap bottle. Moreover, the structure of holding the soap bottle via the first and second clamp portions are not sturdy. Frequently loading and unloading operations easily deform the junctions of the first and second clamp portions and the rear lid, and result in damage of the structure that could make the apparatus unusable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,377 also discloses a soap dispensing system which includes a soap container, a soap discharge portion connecting to the lower end of the soap container and a holder to hold the soap container. The soap container includes a latch groove for positioning. The holder has a trough corresponding to the latch groove. When refilling liquid soap is required, the soap container can be easily separated and removed from the holder via the latch groove and trough. It provides a sturdier structure and can remedy the drawback of the previous technique that easily deforms at the junctions and becomes damaged caused by frequent loading and unloading. However, its soap discharge portion and soap container are integrated. During refilling the remnant liquid soap in the tube easily spills out and smears the floor. Hence its soap discharge portion with the outlet facing down is not suitable for automatic soap dispensing apparatus installed on a countertop.
R.O.C. patent M374830 discloses an automatic soap dispensing apparatus which includes a soap container to hold liquid soap, a compression pump located at the opening of the soap container to draw the liquid soap, a driving module butting the compression pump to discharge the liquid soap, a liquid soap piping connecting to the compression pump to transport the liquid soap and a hood to encase all other elements. The automatic soap dispensing apparatus thus formed can be incorporated with a soap dispensing faucet. When users place their hands below the faucet, a sensor on the faucet transmits an activation signal to the soap dispensing apparatus, the liquid soap is dispensed from the soap container to the faucet to be used by the users for cleaning. However, when refilling the liquid soap is needed the compression pump has to be unfastened from the soap container by screwing, and this involves troublesome screw fastening structures. Moreover, the soap container is suspended. The weight of the soap container makes unscrewing from the compression pump difficult. Inadvertent operation could easily drop the soap container and mess the floor with liquid soap.